Overview

Robogals is a student-run non-profit organization that aims to engage schoolgirls in engineering topics from a young age, with the long-term goal of increasing female participation in engineering and technology.

Our core activity is having college student volunteers visit schools to run LEGO robotics workshops and mentor teams in LEGO robotics competitions, mostly targeting girls aged 10-14. The university students are provided with the necessary training to teach LEGO robotics, and an important goal of the organization is not only to have a positive impact on the schools, but also to provide a rewarding experience for the dedicated students who volunteer their time and skills to the organization.

In the United States, only 13% of engineers in the workforce are women (2006 data). At college, women comprise 54% of all freshmen, but only 17.5% of engineering freshmen, and this number is decreasing (2008 data). (source)

Robogals was founded undergraduate engineering student Marita Cheng in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, and today has 20 chapters in Australia, the UK, Europe and most recently the USA. In 2012, Marita was named Young Australian of the Year for her work with Robogals, a highly prestigious honor awarded each year by the Prime Minister.